Package



- Feb. 24, 1970 G. 1.. TRANER ETAL 3,497,057

PACKAGE Filed March 7, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS Gm: L ZswseArmy/v51 Feb. 24, 1970 ca. L. TRANER ETAL I PACKAGE Filed March 7, 19684 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS GM: 1. 7794/75? BY 755m M omy 4 Sheets-Sheet5 PACKAGE Feb. 24, 1970 Filed March 7, 1968 Z4 7 lNVENTORS GE 1. /7)/9/YE By 950 5 Mcamy Feb. 24, 1970 s. TRANER ETAL 3,497,057

PACKAGE Filed March 7, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS GEO/F66 Z. 754%19BY 755000 5 Mcomy United States Patent Ofiiice 3,497,057 Patented Feb.24, 1970 US. Cl. 206-44.11 14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Thepresent invention is directed to a package for dinnerware which will actas a shipping, storage and display package.

The present invention relates to an improved package and moreparticularly to an improved package for shipping, storing and displayingdinnerware sets.

Heretofore, dinnerware, and especially china or earthen dinnerware, hasbeen packaged in a carton which is stuffed with shredded paper, wood,etc. in order to prevent the dinnerware from being disturbed and brokenduring shipping and handling. However, such cartons are bulky, take up agreat deal of rOOm for shipping and storing purposes and are awkward tohandle. Furthermore, extra plates are often supplied to retailers assamples for display purposes.

The present invention avoids these drawbacks and has for one of itsobjects the provision of an improved package which uses a minimum ofpacking material.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improvedpackage in which a set of dishes can be packed with minimum danger ofbreakage or damage.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improvedpackage which can be used as a display package as well as a shippingcarton and a storage carton.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a packagewhich is not bulky and which may be easily carried by the purchaser.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon anunderstanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, orwill be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages notreferred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employmentof the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes ofillustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings,forming a part of the specification wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a package made in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the package of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the various components of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the cup retaining assembly;

FIG. 7 is an exploded View of the combined small plate retainingassembly and large plate retaining assembly;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the blank for forming the large plate retainingassembly;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the blank for forming the small plate retainingassembly;

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing the blank for forming the cup retainingassembly;

FIG. 11 is an exploded view showing the manner of assembling the outercasing over the outer carton;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing the first step of attaching ahandle to the package;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the second step of attaching thehandle to the package; and

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing the final step of attaching thehandle to the package.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the package 1 of thepresent invention comprises an outer carton 2 adapted to receive a pairof spaced cup-retaining assemblies 3 adapted to hold cups B and similararticles. Interposed between said cup-retaining assemblies 3 is acentrally mounted large plate-retaining assembly 4 adapted to hold largeplate A such as dinner plates and the like. On top of the largeplate-retaining assembly 4 is mounted a small plate-retaining assembly 9adapted to hold small plates such as saucers and the like, collectivelydesignated C.

The outer carton 2 preferably has open sides and is covered with anouter casing 5 which fits tightly over the outer carton 2 to hold thecontents of the outer carton in place. The outer casing 5 may be clearor may be provided with descriptive material thereon. In the particularembodiment shown in the drawing, a large plate A is mounted tightlybetween the outer carton 2 and the outer casing 5 in order to permit thepattern of the dinnerware set to be displayed. However, it will beunderstood that a small plate can also be used, or, if desired, theplate may be eliminated altogether. A handle 40 is also provided topermit the package 1 to be carried.

The ou er carton 2 comprises an upper wall 6. a lower wall 7, a pair ofend walls 8 and preferably has its sides open. The outer carton 2 may beformed from a single sheet of board material, which is folded alongpredetermined fold lines to form the top, bottom and end walls 6, 7 and8, respectively.

Each cup-retaining assembly 3 is formed from a blank 10, shown in FIG.10, having openings 11 and 11a therein adapted to receive bowl andhandle of each cup B. If the cup B does not have handles, the opening1162 may be eliminated. The blank 10 is folded along predetermined foldlines to form top wall 12 (with the openings 11 and 11a therein), bottomwall 13 and side walls 14. Each cup-retaining assembly preferably hasopen ends, as shown, however, the ends may be closed, if desired. Inaddition, although two openings 11 are shown in the drawing, additionalopenings may be provided if the package is to receive more than fourcups B or similar articles.

The large plate holding assembly 4 is formed from a blank 20, shown inFIG. 8, having a central opening 21. The blank 20 is folded alongpredetermined fold lines to form a top wall 23 comprising side panels26, a bot- 3 tom wall 24 and end walls 25. Flaps 22 extend from the sidepanels 26 and are adapted to be folded downwardly to a position adjacentthe side panels 26 in order to tightly hold a plurality of large platesC in place. The sides of the large plate-retaining assembly 4 arepreferably open.

Located above the plate holding assembly 4 and within the opening 21 isthe small plate-retaining assembly 9 which is formed from a blank 30shown in FIG. 9. The blank 30 comprises a plurality of side wals 31having flaps 32 extending from the upper end and tongues 33 extendingfrom the lower end. The blank 30 is folded along predetermined foldlines to form an enclosure for small plates such as saucers, saladplates, etc. In order to hold the small plates in place the tongues 33are being folded beneath the small plates C and rest on the large platesA. The flaps 32 are bent outwardly so that they abut the underside ofthe upper wall 6 of the outer carton 2. If desired, openings 34 may beprovided on side walls 31 for viewing purposes.

Mounted on top wall 6 of the outer carton 2 is the dinner plate A andthe outer casing 5, preferably of a transparent polyethylene material,is forced over the outer carton 2 as shown in FIG. 11. The open end 50thereof is closed to complete the package. The outer casing will closethe open sides of the various retaining assemblies. It will hold theouter carton 2 and its contents tightly in place so that there is noshifting of the contents during handling and no danger of damage.

In order to form the handle 40, a hollow guide 41 is inserted throughthe outer casing 5 adjacent one edge of the package and a cord 42, orsimilar item, is insert d therein. The guide 41 is then removed and thecord 42 is knotted at 44 to form the handle 40.

To assemble the package of the present invention the blank 2 is firstfolded to form the outer carton 2 as shown in FIG. 5. The blanks arethen folded along the fold lines and cups B are mounted within thecupreceiving openings 11. The cup-retaining assemblies 3 together withthe cups B mounted therein are inserted within the outer carton adjacentthe two end walls thereof. The height of each assembly 3 together withcups B is substantially equal to the inner height of the out r carton sothat a tight fit results.

The large plate holding assembly 4 is then formed by folding the blank20 along fold lines. The large plates A are then inserted therewithin asshown in FIG. 7 and are held in place by the pressure of the flaps 23which are folded against underside of panels 26. The large plat Iretaining assembly is located between the cup-retaining assemblies 3 inabutting engagement therewith.

The small plate-retaining assembly 9 is then formed by bending the blank30 along its fold lines as shown in FIG. 7. Small plates are thenmounted within the ass mbly. The tongues 33 are folded beneath thelowermost small plate and the entire assembly is then mounted within theopening 21 in the dinner plate assembly 4. The tongues 33 will preventthe small plates from touching the large plates. The combined height ofthe large and small plate-retaining assemblies 4 and 9 is substantiallyequal to the distance between the upper and lower walls of the outercarton to form a tight fit. The flaps 32 aid in preventing shifting ofthe small plate-retaining assembly.

A display plate, which may be a large plate A, is mounted on the outsideof the outer carton 2 with the pattern facing outwardly so that it canbe viewed by a potential buyer. The polyethylene outer casing 5 is thentightly forced over both the carton 2 and the display plate A. The openend is sealed to complete the package. The handle 40 is then formed asoutlined above.

With this structure, a self-contained package is formed which can beshipped and handled in bulk without the necessity of expensive packagingmaterial to prevent breakage of the items and which will be compact toreduce shipping and handling costs. The package can be easily used asboth a shipping and display package. The package further permits thepurchaser to hand carry the package without the necessity of bulkycartons and also perm-its the potential purchaser to see the patternthereby avoiding the necessity of displaying individual sets ofdinnerware.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangementof the parts herein without department from the spirit and scope of theinvention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to beunderstood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrativeand not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A package comprising an outer carton formed from a sheet folded alongpredetermined lines to form top, bottom and end walls and having itssides open, a cup retaining assembly mounted within the outer carton,said cup retaining assembly including a support means for cups, a plateretaining assembly comprising support means for plates mounted withinthe outer carton, said cup and plate retaining assemblies beingpositioned in side-by-side relationship in a plane substantiallyparallel to the plane of said top and bottom walls so that substantiallythe entire space between said top and bottom walls of the outer cartonis filled by said cup and plate retaining assemblies and an outerresilient casing mounted over said outer carton.

2. A package as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least a pair ofcup-retaining assemblies are provided.

3. A package as claimed in claim 2, wherein said plateretaining assemblyis interposed between said pair of cup-retaining assemblies.

4. A package as claimed in claim 3, wherein a display plate is mountedbetween the outer carton and the outer casing.

5. A package as claimed in claim 4, wherein said plateretaining assemblyis a large plate-retaining assembly and wherein a small plate-retainingassembly is mounted above said large plate-retaining assembly.

6. A package as claimed in claim 5, wherein the height of said small andlarge plate-retaining assemblies substantially fills the distancebetween the upper and lower walls of said outer carton.

7. A package as claimed in claim 6, wherein said outer casing isflexible and fits tightly over said outer carton.

8. A package as claimed in claim 7, wherein each cupretaining assemblycomprises a sheet folded along predetermined fold lines to form top,bottom and side walls and having its ends open and provided withcupretaining openings in its top Wall.

9. A package as claimed in claim 8, wherein said large plate-retainingassembly comprises a sheet folded along predetermined fold lines adaptedto form top, bottom and end walls and having its sides open.

10. A package as claimed in claim 9, wherein an opening is formed in thetop wall of said large plate-retaining assembly to receive said smallplate-retaining assembly.

11. A package as claimed in claim 10, wherein flaps extend from panelson said top wall of said large plateretaining assembly, said flapsfoldable beneath said panels to abut against large plates therewithin.

12. A package as claimed in claim 11, wherein said small plate-retainingassembly comprises a plurality of side walls having tongues extendingdownwardly therefrom, said tongues being adapted to fold beneath thesmall plates therein to hold them in place.

13. A package as claimed in claim 12, wherein flaps extend from theupper ends of the side walls of the small plate-retaining assembly andare adapted to be folded outwardly to abut against the upper wall of theouter carton.

14. A package as claimed in claim 13, wherein a handle is provided onsaid package.

(References on following page) References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTSAddis et a1. 20645.14 Knorpp 20645.14 Nutt 206-44.11 Whiley 206-65 Kamps206-45.14 X Okada 206-45.14 Isaacson et a1 22030 X 6 FOREIGN PATENTS9/1955 Germany. 5/ 1965 Great Britain.

5 MARTHA L. RICE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

